The Muppets was wonderful perfect. And, if like me you are a child of the late 1970s/early 80s bring lots and lots of tissues. I was choked up, teary, smiling and clapping through the whole darling thing.

“Jim always said that Kermit was the character he felt closest to,” says Falk. “Kermit was very much the center of things – the way Jim was – but not necessarily in control of all these people. Jim was an amazing gatherer of talent and he recognized talent in people and brought them into the fold and let them do their own thing—and Kermit of course does that very much in The Muppet Show.”

My first national byline, circa 1994. (St. Clement’s and Hall Middle School newspapers had been local of course.) While my relatively novice, if precocious, contribution to the piece was heavily edited by my co-author, Stuller Sr., it was an important lesson from Master Po to his Grasshopper that all writers must compromise if they want a byline that comes with a paycheck.